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An exhibition of works by the late Stanley Harrington will open in the gallery of
the De Pree Art Center on Saturday, May 14, and continue through Friday, June 10.

Harrington was a member of the Hope faculty from 1964 until his untimely death at
age 32 on Oct. 18, 1968, of a brain aneurysm. The exhibition, curated by a former
Hope colleague, Del Michel, professor emeritus of art, will feature some 50 works
that Harrington painted, both oils and acrylics, from 1958 until the year of his death.

The exhibition will begin with an opening reception on Saturday, May 14, from 5 p.m.
to 7 p.m. Michel will make remarks during the opening, as will Harrington's daughter,
Anne Harrington Hughes, an artist living in Hamtramck. The public is invited to both
the exhibition and the reception. Admission is free.

"Stan's brushwork is rich and his color palette, earthy," said Michel, who had also
joined the Hope art faculty in 1964, and remained at Hope until retiring in 2003.
"I hope that the viewer will enjoy discovering the jewel-like nature of these works,
as much as I have enjoyed rediscovering so many 'old friends.'" A number of the pieces
will be available for purchase. The proceeds will support the Stanley Harrington Art
Award, which is presented each year to a promising Hope art major for the purchase
of research materials.

After graduating from Hope with an English major, Harrington completed a Master of
Fine Arts degree in 1961 at the University of Iowa, where he studied painting, drawing
and prints. He taught at Lake Forest High School in Illinois as head of the art department
and instructor in drawing and painting from 1961 to 1963. He joined the Hope faculty
in February of 1964.

Beyond his contributions as an instructor, he established the first gallery space
at Hope, in the mezzanine of the Van Zoeren Library. The first exhibition there included
works by Rembrandt, Duerer, Rouault and Picasso. After Harrington died, the college
established a permanent art collection in his honor, a legacy which has continued
to grow.

Active as an artist, in the nine years before his death he had paintings in exhibitions
in Cedar Rapids, Iowa; Des Moines, Iowa; the Joslyn Museum in Omaha, Neb.; the Detroit
Institute of Arts; and the Kalamazoo Institute of Arts; and in a National Small Painting
Exhibition at the University of Omaha. In January of 1968, 35 of his works were featured
in a one-man show at Valparaiso University.

In the November after he died, Hope displayed some of his works in a memorial exhibition.
His work was also featured in a one-man show at Kalamazoo College in February of 1969
and a one-man show sponsored by the Holland Friends of Art in March of 1969. Otherwise,
most of the pieces have not been shown publicly for more than 34 years.

The idea to display the works began Harrington's widow, Dr. Jane Bach, who has held
the paintings in the decades since they were last exhibited.

"Part of it is selfish, because it would be nice to see them all displayed together
at once," said Bach, who retired from the Hope faculty in 2000 as a professor emerita
of English after teaching at the college since 1975. "But there are also still people
who knew Stan - friends and classmates."

When Harrington died, the department of art did not yet have a home of its own. The
department moved into the old Holland Rusk Bakery building in 1969, and into the De
Pree Art Center in 1982.

In addition to the gallery, De Pree features studio space for students and faculty
alike. It's a combination, Michel believes, that his former colleague would have appreciated,
since it gives students a chance to see how their faculty mentors work as artists.

"We shared a sensibility about the work - and not only the work but the process of
working," said Michel, who like Harrington did his graduate work at the University
of Iowa. "I believe it, and I know Stan believed it: if you're going to teach students
as an artist you must be an artist."

First as a student and in the years since as an artist, Hughes has appreciated the
emphasis.

"I think the beauty in the design of the building is the kind of exchange it provides
- student to student, student to faculty," said Hughes, who returned to Hope as a
visiting artist in the fall of 2003. "That's kind of unique. Not many other places
do that, where you see the artist in his studio." For Hughes, too young to remember
her father, the art he left behind has a provided a way to understand who he was.
For the works to be displayed and sold now brings together many threads - her family's
ties to Hope, her father's work, the dream he had for Hope and the department of today,
and the students who will benefit in the future.

"For me it was the idea of giving to the college in a different way," she said. "The
idea of Hope College is generations and heritage, and this exhibition fits that vein."

The De Pree Art Center is located on Columbia Avenue at 12th Street. The gallery is
handicapped accessible. Starting Monday, May 16, the gallery will be open weekdays
from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.